rakuen | Round 1 [new characters and round announcement]

You're falling, and you can't remember why. It's a sickening feeling that makes your insides lurch; the darkness and the vertigo combine, and all you can think of is a story you heard once, somewhere.

- I remember now. It's a simple story that everyone knows. A legend of a Princess, the Demon Lord who kidnapped her, and the Knight who fought to save her.

The Demon Lord had kidnapped the Princess countless times, but every time the Knight bested his challenges and rescued the Princess.

No matter what tricks and ploys the Demon Lord used, the Knight would always triumph in the end. This was because--

The world tilts on its axis one last time, and the dream slips from your mind as easily as it arrived. A new voice intrudes on your sleep.

"Next stop: Academy Main Entrance. This tramline terminates here; all change. Next stop: Academy Main Entrance. All change."

Sunlight streams through the windows of the long carriage, making the seats almost uncomfortably warm beneath its waking passengers. The air is muggy and thick, the atmosphere deeply tired. Your nausea settles, slowly. The last of the dream fades.

"We have arrived at Utopia. Repeat, we have arrived at Utopia Academy. Could all passengers please leave the tram, as it is terminating here."

The tram pulls to a stop outside the academy station, and the students onboard are ushered off and directed to the front lobby of the school. They can't miss it; there are signs up pointing toward the main entrance, reading "New student orientation" in big, bright letters. If anyone should care to move off the path, try exploring somewhere else, a teacher will conveniently appear to shoo them back toward the lobby, assuring them that "all your questions will be answered inside".

The lobby is big and spacious, looking more like a university or perhaps a fancy international hotel than a high school. Stood around are any number of students in the uniform of the school. Some of them even look awake. There are several receptionists at the desk towards the back of the lobby, but for now they seem busy with paperwork.

[ Note: the round announcement will go up in a thread once you've all mingled. ♥ ]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

"I can smell blood," Enki muttered and shook his head. You'd think, that after they had made Taiki feel secure with his choice, that things would be calm. Good. Normal, for a while. Take a trip into Hourai, follow Shoryu out into En to make sure the idiot didn't do anything too embarrassing. Enjoy the wind for a while. But no.

On top of this, standing about this group of people with his head uncovered felt strange, but they weren't in En or any of the other kingdoms. No one here would probably question his golden hair. Wouldn't find anything strange or revealing about it.
"And if whoever's in charge gonna let the confusion go on, they're worse than they need to be," Enki finally spat out, unease mounting from everything. Couldn't their kidnappers act like decent 'rulers' of their kidnapped 'subjects' at least?

He shrugged, very lightly, and almost began to answer when the realisation hit him and he froze. I can smell blood, Enki had said. Those words, too familiar, had him trying to mold chakra in a heartbeat. Why hadn't he thought of it sooner? His chakra was sealed, but what did that mean for Shukaku? He had mastered him, but that was when he was at full strength. Was the demon trying to take over even now? His mind clouded, and he involuntarily pressed the heel of his hand against his forehead. This could be a slaughter...

He looked up. Around. Had they placed him here, knowing that he would have to suppress the demon or risk the deaths of over fifty people? It would be an effective prison.

"Is the blood on any one person?"

Sakura's instinct was to stay to the back, avoid notice until she had a better idea of what was going on. Her hands wouldn't mold chakra and she couldn't even remember the name of the handseal she had been trying to use since she left that train.

But her eyes caught a familiar face, familiar enough but she didn't call out. She slipped through the crowd to stand beside him and nod. Commander, Kazekage, which should she use? She settled for the more relevant of the two.

"Commander?"

Enki looked up at the pink-haired young woman, who obviously knew Gaara and stared. Commander? An internal sigh. Of course the man would be a soldier of sorts, since he'd mentioned shinobi. Then he looked back to Gaara and shrugged.

"Someone in here's injured, but there's a..." How to even explain this part... "A general smell of blood. The ones who're coming in now... Something's happened." Enki's eyes narrowed as he studied those in the crowd who'd obviusly been here before them. Most of them seemed nervous, confused, upset. And shrouded with an old smell of blood. He hoped it didn't get any thicker, though, or he'd start gagging.

And he was starting to feel sure that his horn had been bound, despite there being no proof of this; why else could he not reach his shirei, why else was there simply a... nothingness, even where his noykai should have been? He'd never thought he'd be in this position again.

"Sakura," the name was an acknowledgement, a greeting, in place of something more obvious that could attract unwanted attention. He put aside the urgent question of the One-Tailed Shukaku for now. Talking about it in public would be a bad idea. He nodded between them, arms still motionless across his chest. "This is Enki, the Taiho of En."

And then to Enki, "They were also brought here against their will, most probably. Is it affecting you?" The last part was added purely because the boy looked like he was about to vomit.

Sakura took in the other person, frowning slightly and curled her hands at her sides. The urge to ask what was wrong with Enki, to try to help him was overwhelming, but she already knew she couldn't. Practice on that train had told her that.

"Sakura Haruno." She remained silent for now, taking in what he said and processing their unusual surroundings.

Enki nodded at Sakura, and took a deep breath. Bad idea. The doors into the hall, while almost constantly being opened and then closed, didn't bring enough air with that motion to wash away the lingering scent.

"Blood..." He grimaced, and hoped this was temporary. If this place was constantly suffused with even this distant echo, he'd end up just not feeling at his best. And he had a feeling he had to be at his best. Especially with all his protections whittled down to nothing.

"I can't handle it," Enki said with a shrug, and suddenly looked very serious, older than he appeared to be. "This isn't too bad, but if doesn't go away..." He wasn't going to explain it, not yet. If something happened, it wasn't as if there was anything they could do.

"Until we find the source, you should avoid crowds." For some reason, Gaara had decided Enki was his responsibility. Which, technically, he was, being a young foreign dignitary with a weak constitution. "Sakura, can I ask you to stay with him?"

Round 1 [new characters and round announcement]

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